Responses to young children in post-emergency situations

Spontaneous care arrangements and potential
protection issues
Children placed with the extended family
In many societies, children are considered to belong
to the extended family or clan rather than to the
nuclear family: it is common for them to be cared
for by older siblings, grandparents and aunts, and
to spend periods of their childhood with various
members of the extended family. When parents die
or become separated from their children, members
of the extended family automatically take in the
children on an interim or permanent basis.
Potential protection issues
However, this does not necessarily mean that these
children are provided with a standard of care similar
to that provided to the biological children of the
family. A number of studies reveal a pattern of
discrimination within the extended family which
children themselves experience as hurtful and
distressing. In many instances, the family is already
experiencing material hardship, and very often the
additional child is expected to be grateful and to
accept that he or she may not be offered the same
standard of care as others in the family – e.g., school
uniforms and materials. This may lead to a situation
in which the separated child feels ‘different’ and
isolated, and the result can be poor communication
with the caregivers. Caregivers may not appreciate
the importance to the child of having opportunities
to talk about their feelings about being separated
from their families, their sense of loss or grief,
and their concerns for the future. In extreme cases
children may be at risk of abuse, including sexual
exploitation and exploitative labour, or denial of
access to schooling.
Spontaneously fostered children
In some societies, the idea of living with strangers
is considered to be completely unacceptable,
while in others it is more common. Traditional
forms of fostering are not usually based on the
best interests of the child but rather on a notion
of exchange: the child may benefit from being
given food, clothing etc., but the foster carers will
benefit from the child’s labour. In some cultures it
is common for young children to be placed with
older foster carers, who provide care for the child
on the assumption that they will later benefit from
material support when the child grows up. It is
important to note that in some societies there is no
expectation that the fostered child will be treated
the same as other children in the household:
cultural norms in some societies may even dictate
that the child should not be treated the same on the
basis that he or she will benefit from the experience
of a degree of hardship.
Potential protection issues
In order to assess the likely protection issues of
spontaneously fostered children it is necessary to
understand cultural norms regarding the placement
of children with unrelated carers. Research evidence
suggests that in refugee situations, when there are
significant numbers of separated children, unrelated
families may take in an unknown child even when
this is culturally uncommon. In some cases, this may
be motivated by genuine humanitarian concerns
or religious commitment; in others, children may
be taken in so that the family can benefit from the
child’s labour, for sexual reasons or to enhance the
family’s perceived eligibility for certain material
benefits. Frequently children are taken in for a
mixture of motives. In all situations, it must not
be assumed that fostered children will be accorded
an adequate degree of care and protection, and
it has been observed in many refugee contexts
that spontaneously fostered children experience
unacceptable levels of discrimination or abuse
(including sexual). Economic issues may be as
important as cultural norms in explaining the
differential treatment of foster and biological
children respectively.
Although, as a general rule, children who are taken
in by unrelated families should be encouraged to
remain if they are receiving an acceptable level of
protection and care, it is vital that they are identified
both for the purposes of family tracing and in
order that a programme of monitoring and support
can be established. However, refugee children in
spontaneous care arrangements with unrelated
host-country families could face specific protection
problems, and placement of these children in their
own refugee community should be promoted.
Child-headed households
Child-headed households refer to children living
independently in groups. Many of these groups are
in fact supported by extended family living nearby
B e r n a r d v a n L e e r Fo u n d a t i o n 37 E a r l y C h i l d h o o d M a t t e r s • Ju l y 2 0 0 5